Advice on buying a Hobie 18

I currently sail a Hobie 14T but I'm 6'1" and 185lbs. Single handed I have fun on my 14 but am rather limited

I found a 1992 Hobie 18 for a really good price sails are in good shape and no soft spots in hulls

My question is I want to be able to go sailing by myself when no one else is availible but I also also want to be able to put one additional person about my size on it when they want to go, possibly even have a third passenger on rare occasions. On the 14 just the 1 extra person is rough, especially since he doesn't know anything about sailing and is just learning, so twice now he has shifted his weight leeward in moderate winds and the boat flips

will the 18 serve my purpose?
can I single hand?

Thanks in advance for any advice

I'm 5'10" 225 and I solo my 18 much of the time. Coming from a H14 Turbo, you wouldn't have any problem whatsoever solo'ing the 18. You will of course need the assistance of beach wheels or a trailer to help get the boat down to the water. Personally, I wouldn't want to have to raise the mast on my own every time I went sailing (not an issue for me as I keep it stored mast up on the beach all summer) but there are plenty of people here who do just that.

As for sailing with crew, my buddy goes around 6'2" 210 and the boat doesn't have any stability or speed issues despite our extra "ballast". I've also brought along my wife and two kids and we always have a blast. The H18 is an excellent cat!

You can solo it for sure but if you flip it thats what you should concerned about read this thread http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=34185

_________________
Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

the 18 is a great boat, stable and fast!. very different from the 14.

ask yourself these questions:
can you leave the boat on the beach with the mast up, or will you trailer all the time?
do you have Cat wheels to move the boat around?
what kind of physical shape are you in?

it is not very easy to move a 18 around on the beach by yourself without wheels or rollers. raising the mast on your own is not too difficult, but various contraptions have been devised to hold the forestay in place whilst your move from the tramp to the front... better hope it holds.

sailing solo is easy enough, when its not too windy. capsizing alone is difficult to right without the various gizmos to help you, and at times downright dangerous.

I'm 56 years old, about 6' tall, weigh 175 lbs and in darn good shape, but it gets old pretty fast doing all that work alone.

_________________
Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

I came from a H16 and bought into the 18. Never looked back.

The boat can be handled solo but I would at least get used to the 18 with a 2nd on board. It is a powerful boat and under surprise conditions such has increased wind, you can always furl the jib to reduce the power to maintain control of the boat.

I'm 5'8" and 195lbs and can not right my boat solo. I've toyed with the idea of attaching a righting pole which attaches to the underside of the tramp. Plenty of info on this site regarding this.

I sail most of the time with a second person. Why she is out on the wire, I handle the lines. It's a real rush. The boat rides like a limo. Very different from the 16 and I would imagine the 14 as well.

Good luck.

The question shouldn't be "Can I singlehand an 18?" the question should be "Will I WANT to singlehand an 18?"

Unfortunately, if you will primarily be sailing solo, the answer is probably no.

Yea, the 18 can be singlehanded...just about any boat can be singlehanded. But the 18 was designed as a two-person boat. At 400+ pounds, it's a lot for one person to move around alone on the beach. It's got a jib and dagger boards to contend with. The mast is pretty heavy to lift alone. You'll be overpowered in anything over about a 15mph breeze. And at 185lb, you won't be able to right it alone (could even be tough with a water bag).

The 18 is a fun boat to singlehand in light to moderate breeze - I've done it plenty of times, but given the choice, I think I'd take my 17 every time for solo sailing.

sm

I'd second that last post.

H18 can single-hand, but kind of limits boat potential (see previous posts about wind, righting, etc). Best w/2.

H17 - best w/1, a little handicapped w/2.

I have a H14T that I LOVE, but have kind of quit sailing it on really WINDY days. While it's a rush and a blast... I feel real limited in the chop. I'm get focused on NOT pitchpoling more than sailing.

I rebuilt the H17 at our club. I took it out single-handed on a GREAT day, whitecaps everywhere... and the boat is AWESOME ! I could sail it hard. The bows went through the waves. I wasn't hobby-horsing slamming INTO waves, I sailed through them. So much nicer than the 14. So now, the 14 is mothballed waiting for my kids to get a little older. The 17 is my new favorite single-hand boat... and the H18 is for friends and grocery getting trips to the islands, etc.

Incidentally, the H17 still leaks, but maybe a gallon after 30 min of that hard sailing, hull flying, etc. I think it's the wing sockets... which I already reglassed from the inside... and 5200'd the places where the sockets bed into the hull (installed port holes).

Go H17 if primarily solo.

You need wheels for the 17 or the 18.

happy sailing. -ROb